Table 1.
Demographic characteristics of parents of children and adolescents with cancer.
| Characteristics | Total parents (N=34) | Completed the pre-DAa survey only (n=19) | Reviewed the DA and completed the pre- and post-DA surveys (n=15) | P valueb | |||||
| Age in years, mean (SD); range | 41.5 (11.1); 27-57 | 43.2 (8.1); 27-57 | 42.6 (7.0); 31-49 | .28 | |||||
| Age at child’s diagnosis in years, mean (SD); range | 39.3 (11.2); 25-55 |
40.8 (7.7); 25-55 | 40.5 (6.7); 30-47 | .19 | |||||
| Decision regret score, mean (SD); range | 15.6, (20.5); 0-95 | 16.8 (23.5); 0-95 | 16.5 (18.6); 0-50 | .74 | |||||
| Country of birth, n (%) | |||||||||
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Australia | 24 (71) | 16 (67) | 8 (33) | .84 | ||||
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Other | 10 (29) | 3 (30) | 7 (70) | |||||
| Primary spoken language at home, n (%) | |||||||||
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English | 29 (85) | 18(62) | 11(38) | .51 | ||||
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Other | 5 (15) | 1 (20) | 4 (80) | |||||
| Relationship status, n (%) |
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Married or de facto | 25 (74) | 12 (48) | 13 (52) | .26 | ||||
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Separated or divorced | 7 (21) | 5 (71) | 2 (29) | |||||
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Unknown | 2 (6) | 2 (100) | 0 (0) | |||||
| Highest level of education, n (%) | |||||||||
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≤Year 10 | 6 (18) | 4 (67) | 2 (33) | .04c | ||||
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Year 12 | 4 (12) | 2 (50) | 2 (50) | |||||
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Technical and Further Education certificate or diploma | 4 (12) | 3 (75) | 1 (25) | |||||
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Bachelor’s degree | 12 (35) | 2 (17) | 10 (83) | |||||
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Postgraduate degree | 7 (21) | 7 (100) | 0 (0) | |||||
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Unknown | 1 (3) | 1 (100) | 0 (0) | |||||
| Employment status, n (%) | |||||||||
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Full time | 9 (26) | 2 (29) | 7 (71) | .001c | ||||
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Part time | 11 (32) | 7 (64) | 4 (36) | |||||
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Self employed | 2 (6) | 1 (50) | 1 (50) | |||||
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Full-time or part-time student | 1 (3) | 0 (0) | 1 (100) | |||||
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Unemployed | 7 (21) | 6 (86) | 1 (14) | |||||
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Unknown | 4 (12) | 3 (75) | 1 (25) | |||||
| Occupation, n (%) | |||||||||
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Professional | 15 (44) | 6 (40) | 9 (60) | .51 | ||||
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Clerk or sales | 3 (9) | 2 (100) |
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Home duties | 5 (15) | 4 (80) | 1 (20) | |||||
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Other | 11 (32) | 7 (64) | 4 (36) | |||||
| Parity, n (SD); ranged | 2.5 (1.1); 1-6 | 2.6 (1.4);1-6 | 2.3 (0.6);1-3 | .32 | |||||
| Parents own past conception difficulties, n (%) | |||||||||
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Yes | 5 (15) | 1 (20) | 4 (80) | .50 | ||||
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No | 29 (85) | 18 (62) | 11 (38) | |||||
| Concerns regarding their child’s future fertility at diagnosis, n (%) | |||||||||
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Yes | 23 (68) | 12 (52) | 11 (48) | .19 | ||||
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No | 8 (24) | 5 (63) | 3 (37) | |||||
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Unsure | 3 (9) | 2 (67) | 1 (33) | |||||
| Recalled a fertility discussion, n (%) | |||||||||
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Yes | 29 (85) | 16 (55) | 13 (45) | .85 | ||||
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No | 5 (15) | 3 (60) | 2 (40) | |||||
| Clinician involved in fertility discussion, n (%) | |||||||||
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Oncologist | 12 (35) | 7 (58) | 5 (42) | .10 | ||||
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Gynecologist | 7 (21) | 4 (57) | 3 (43) | |||||
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Oncologist + gynecologist or endocrinologist or nurse | 7 (21) | 4 (57) | 3 (43) | |||||
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Endocrinologist | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | |||||
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Nurse | 2 (6) | 1 (50) | 1 (50) | |||||
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Social worker | 2 (6) | 1 (50) | 1 (50) | |||||
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Unknown | 4 (12) | 2 (50) | 2 (50) | |||||
aDA: decision aid.
bt test (two-tailed) between parents who completed only the pre-DA survey only and those who completed both pre- and post-DA surveys.
cSignificant at P ≤.05.
dThe number of children the parents of patients have had.